By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The return of
the defending Horse of the Year and the season’s-fastest trotting and pacing
miles highlighted the Friday night action at the Meadowlands.
Hannelore Hanover, the 2017 HOTY, came
back to her favorite track and was an easy 2¾-length winner of the feature, the
$20,000 Preferred Handicap for trotters.
The 6-year-old daughter of Swan For
All used a quick burst of speed to clear the top before the half and had little
trouble from there, stopping the clock in 1:50.3, which equaled the fastest
trotting mile of the year in the sport. Pinkman was second with Celebrity Ruth
third.
Hannelore Hanover, who returned $2.40
as the 1-5 public choice, was driven by Yannick Gingras and is trained by Ron
Burke. She now has 41 wins from 63 lifetime starts and earnings just shy of
$2.7 million.
Less than an hour later, Muscle
Diamond, driven by Andy McCarthy and trained by Brett Bittle, established a new
season’s best on the trot of 1:50.1 while winning a conditioned event.
The 6-year-old son of Muscle Hill
($4.80 to win as the 7-5 favorite) was on the point at the half, shrugged off
bitter pressure from longshot Celebrity Express heading to three-quarters, and
hit the wire 1¼ lengths clear of You Know You Do. He now has 13 wins in 44
career starts and earnings of just under $700,000.
The fireworks show was still going
strong in the 12th-race finale, as the Tony Alagna-trained American
History prepped for next week’s Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace Eliminations
with a season's-fastest 1:47 win in a conditioned pace. The victory was
Gingras’ fifth of the night.
The 3-year-old son of American Ideal
sat off torrid early fractions of :26.3 and :53, which were set by All It
Takes. After Hayden Hanover popped the pocket at three-quarters (1:20.1) and
came after the leader, right behind him was American History, who got up in
deep stretch to record a neck victory, and in the process, lowered his previous
lifetime best by two-and-one-fifth seconds. As the 4-5 favorite, he returned
$3.60 to win in taking his fifth lifetime victory in 10 starts.
A LITTLE MORE: The program also featured first leg
New Jersey Sire Stakes action for 2-year-olds, and one performance stood out
from the rest. Greenshoe ($2.80 as the 2-5 public choice) broke at the start,
got back on gait, made an explosive move heading to three-quarters and won a
division of the colts and geldings trot in 1:56.2. The son of Father Patrick
was driven by Brian Sears. … The Late 20-Cent Jackpot Super High-Five failed to
result in a single-ticket winner, upping the carryover to $268,210. …
All-source wagering on the card totaled $1,893,698. … Racing resumes at the Big
M Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
